10 Feeding Therapy Ideas you may not have tried

I remember as a new SLP, feeding therapy scared me. It felt way out of my wheelhouse because I (Allyssa) was much more used to speech and language therapy. However, with some shadowing of other SLPs, a few good trainings and CEUs, and infinite help from Janae (the other half of Red Rose Speechies), I feel confident in creating a treatment plan for sensory based feeding. These ideas aren’t meant just for feeding therapy sessions as an SLP. They can be used if you are an SLP, an OT, or a parent of a picky eater.

These ideas are all included in our Feeding Therapy Bundle. It includes describing visuals, parent handouts, worksheets, activities, and homework packet ideas.

Scroll through these 10 tips and find a spot to score a FREE Feeding Packet Sampler at the bottom of this page.

1. Describe what the food looks like

Rather than putting any pressure on a child to try the food right away, explore what it looks like. Ask the child what color the food is, what shape it is, and what size it is. This doesn’t require them to touch or interact with the food at all. For some children and some new foods, this may be the best place to start.

2. Help cut, wash, or plate the food

Some children are planners. They like to know what to expect and are not fans of surprises. This can also be the case when it comes to food. A surprise on a plate may lead to reluctance to try or eat the food. A great idea for an eater that is reluctant to try new foods is to involve them in the food preparation. Allow them to take the food out of the fridge, take it from its container, wash it, put it on the plate, and cut it.

3. Explore Food in other ways besides Taste

Taste can be scary for children that have adverse reactions to food especially if they have a history of gag reflexes, vomiting, or other reactions to food. Even if those adverse reactions aren’t present, it can be less scary to explore a new food in other ways first before escalating to taste. Try kissing, licking, or touching the food first. You can try to lead by example and kiss, lick, and touch your own piece of food as well.

4. Avoid “I like it” and “I don’t like it”

A great way to shift the language about food is to turn away from “I like it” and “I don’t like it” and lean into “yes foods” and “no thank you foods”. When plating food on a child’s plate, you can ask the child about the food. “is this a yes food or a no thank you food?”, “What do you think about this food"?”. Then you can shift the conversation about what you can do with a “no thank you food”. “How about we touch the food?”, “maybe we can kiss the food and see how it feels?”.

5. Cut food into new shapes

While preparing the food, try cutting the food into different shapes or using different utensils. Incorporating this small element of “play” can take the pressure away from new (scary) foods. There are ENDLESS choices but here’s one of our favorites.

6. Feed food to play toys

As an SLP, my favorite play food toy is Pop the Pig but there are many other games that incorporate food items that you can use during a feeding session. You can play the game side by side with the food or pretend to feed the food to the toys. Any sort of toy like a baby doll, stuffed animal, or Barbie would work as well. If you’re an SLP, you may have a fun mouth lying around as well which could be a great way to play with food.

7. Move the food around

The child can move the food around the table without being required to touch the food with their hands. This can decrease the pressure to interact with the food. Try to move the food with a spoon, fork, or toy. Our favorite way to do this is to roll or blow the food across the table. Have them try with their mouth first and then introduce a straw if needed.

8. Use an All Done Plate

An all done plate, all done spots, or an all done trash can are all PERFECT to place next to a plate of food. These visuals will help discourage throwing food or putting food on the floor. If they try the food and don’t like it, they can place it on the all done spot. This is a great way to keep the non preferred food in their visual field but takes the pressure away from it staying on their plate.

9. Play Peek A Boo

For this idea, you need preferred foods, non preferred foods, and cups. Place different foods under each cup and move the cups around so the child doesn’t know where the preferred food is. Have them choose a cup and uncover the food. Depending on what food is under the cup, encourage them to eat it, touch it, describe it, etc. This one is SO fun.

10. Paint with the food

I have saved my favorite for last. This is the best, messiest play you can do with food. PAINT with the food. If it’s a pureed food, this can mean using their finger or a paint brush to move the food around on a paper. If it’s a harder food, you can use the food as a paint brush and dip it into paint or a food dip (ketchup, ranch, etc).

Check out our Feeding Therapy Bundle for access to all the visuals and worksheets that you see above and MORE.

Share with us on social media how you’re incorporating play into your feeding sessions. @redrosespeechies